For someone who isn’t considered a free-agent flight risk, LaMarcus Aldridge sure seems like a free-agent flight risk.
After declaring his loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers over the summer, the rumor mill has started to turn on Aldridge. First a report surfaced that alleged his Blazers teammates are fearful he’ll leave in free agency. Now we have this tidbit from Grantland’s Zach Lowe, which posits that the San Antonio Spurs could be very much in play for the free-agent-to-be:
The Spurs accepted that risk because waiting to bump up Leonard’s salary gives them the chance to dangle max cap space in front of Marc Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge this summer. Neither is a good bet to leave his current team, but sources around the league have been saying for weeks that the Spurs might get a hearing with Aldridge — and that was before the Oregonian reported that at least one Blazers player thinks there is only a 50-50 chance that Aldridge stays in Portland.
Both Aldridge and Marc Gasol are considered long shots to leave their respective teams, but if you’re the Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies, you’re worried.
Big time.
Now, the Grizzlies admittedly have less to worry about. They’re positioned to upend the Blazers in the first round, figuring as a more legitimate title contender. Gasol is also fiercely loyal, and it’s tough to imagine him abandoning the Grizzlies for a Southwest Division rival like the Spurs.
None of which means Aldridge isn’t loyal. But rumors of his unhappiness have circulated in the past. The Blazers are also fast-approaching a crossroads. Damian Lillard will be up for an extension after this season—though he could wait and sign one in 2016, capitalizing on the expected cap boon—Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo and Wesley Matthews will hit the open market this summer and Nicolas Batum is slated for unrestricted free agency in 2016.
One of two things could happen here: Portland loses some or all of its core pieces, or things get real expensive real quick.
The latter option isn’t particularly appealing, because the currently constructed core isn’t good enough. Unless the Blazers are banking on C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard to explode, they can’t afford to funnel what amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars over the next four to six years into a foundation that isn’t actually a championship threat.
Yet, they can’t just bid adieu to everyone, either. They gave up a first-round pick for Afflalo and aren’t really in a position to start from scratch—again, unless they consider Lillard, McCollum and Leonard to be the future.
That’s the pickle the Blazers find themselves in, a predicament that cannot be solved until they know what Aldridge is thinking and where he’s leaning.
All the while, as he’s making up his mind, the Spurs will just be over here, lurking in the shadows, cap space in the bank, established talent on the docket, titles in hand, waiting to poach Aldridge if he’s feeling flighty.
